The very simplistic monochromatic palette is offset nicely by the contrasting textures of the hair, fur, and sweater. And it all leads to drawing you immediately into the eyes. VERY powerful and intense focus on the eyes. The choice of adding the curvature of a few fingers was a good choice indeed. It offered the added pigmentation of the skin, without which, it would have been odd to have only the partial face uncovered.

The only suggestion I could give is a curiosity of whether some additional light/reflection off the eyes would have added to the photograph or not. With color blending so much into the thick eyeliner, maybe just that added luminescence, especially in the right eye may have popped it a little more.